Prison issues

Karen James welcomes former Prison Pipeline host Ruth Kovacs during her visit to Portland. Ruth will tell us about her new life in Illinois. While in Portland, she plans to visit the men at Oregon State Penitentiary and Columbia River Correctional Institution.

Hosts Celeste Carey and Cecil Prescod look at the issue of reinvesting some of Oregon's massive corrections budget and a new campaign called "Stand Strong for Safety and Savings." Activists say the prison budget continues to climb, while programs that work to prevent crime are critically under-funded. What do you think? Call in with your questions and comments.

Guests are Cassandra Villanueva, the Director of Organizing and Advocacy at Partnership for Safety and Justice and Paul Solomon who heads "Sponsors," a nonprofit re-entry service for people released from prison.

Tom Becker hosts this episode and reads a selection from the work of Chris Hedges about the implications of environmental and economic collapse. Bill Resnick talks with Tristan Quinn-Thibodeau of Why Hunger? about how neoliberalism contributes to hunger and organic agriculture can and must feed the planet. The Movie Moles Iven Hale and Jan Haaken review the visually striking non-narrative film Samsara. Jan returns with Mike Snedeker for The Left and the Law, to discuss the arguments for open borders.

U.S. Dept. of Justice Report on Portland Police Bureau's Use of Force Against Mentally Ill Persons

Mental Health Association of Portland’s Chris O’Connor, reports on the U.S. Dept. of Justice Civil Rights Division’s highly critical report of Portland Police Bureau. Specifically, “Encounters between Portland Police Bureau officers and persons with mental illness too frequently result in a use of force when force is unnecessary or in the use of a higher level of force than necessary or appropriate, up to and including deadly force."